Angela Merkel: Glyphosate Use Will Eventually End

Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks to the press as she arrives for an European Council Summit at The Europa Building in Brussels, on June 20. ARIS OIKONOMOU / AFP / Getty Images German Chancellor Angela Merkel told her country’s lower house of government that use of the controversial herbicide glyphosate will eventually die out, according to Reuters . Her new comments update steps she and her coalition government made to limit glyphosate use as a way to phase out its use and to put in new conditions and restrictions for new pesticides and herbicides entering the marketplace. "Things are developing, and we will eventually come to a point where glyphosate isn’t deployed any more," she told lawmakers, as Reuters reported. She added that a gradual end of glyphosate, or RoundUp, should not overburden farmers. Bayer AG, the company that owns the herbicide after it acquired seed maker Monsanto, faces lawsuits by more than 13,400 plaintiffs in the U.S. who claim the herbicide caused cancer. A jury award of over $2 billion caused the company’s stock to plummet to a seven-year low last month. Yet, Bayer sees a bright future for glyphosate, despite Merkel’s comments and the wave of litigation. […]

Grant Brown is a passionate environmentalist, driven by a need to “leave it better than he found it”. This drive, combined with a capacity to understand power solutions of all types, helps him in his day job as VP Marketing at a start up clean technology company. His goal personally as well as professionally, is to help and inspire others to become a part of the green shift and to leave a positive legacy in the world.